Study Buddies/ Medical Zealots/Gangsters- May '09

Advertisements

I am probably going to be going to Ross in May. 29mcat, 3.5 GPA. I am looking for someone to study with who is going to be H-CORE. This person would have to be very ambitious and wants to kick ***. It doesn't matter what your Scores/ GPA is perhaps the worse the better, that mean's you'll have to study more. I am looking for someone who is not going to get caught up in social bullpooh pooh and is going to hit the books hardcore. I really want to be a CT surgeon. I am looking for friends who are going to push me and motivate me. I also think it's important to have people to share notes/ materials with.

You'll find out real quick that the people at the top usually study alone unless they are fortunate enough to form a friendship with at most 1 other person who shares their ambition. For the most part though I see that the people who are in groups perform worse than those who are not. Reasons? You take breaks together, you go to the bank together and wait for 5 people to complete a transaction instead of 1, you go to the store together, etc. etc. Then you feel ok about all of it because your group is ok with it too.

Oh, and it is premature to have already decided what you would like to do 5+ years in the future...especially in a specialty like that. Everyone I meet wants to be a plastic surgeon, opthamologist, orthopedic surgeon, etc. Don't be fooled--most of them will not realize those dreams and you should not believe a word of it. Your goals should be realistic and short term along the lines of "I would like 90+ on all my mini1 scores. I would like to have read the book for all my lectures a week in advance. I will hit the ground running and not wait until week2 to start studying."

At least 3 different people in semester 2 or later gave me the advice "don't make friends with first semesters" in my first week here. The reality is many of your classmates will fail and it is too early to tell who will and who won't and you don't want to go down with someone else's sinking ship. Personally, I made friends but didn't try to talk to them outside of bumping in to them on campus or to go out after a mini. I took my first dedicated day off this week.

Friends are good in medschool if you hang out with a right crown.
I had a very good group of friend at Ross when I went there, but when we studied, usually by ourself. Group discussion may work sometime but it can also be a great distraction and time consuming. I don't recall we had that luxury on the island. You really had to study by yourself very hard. And you have to motivate yourself.

Just get through at least 3 years of medschool before you decide what you want to do.
Good luck

Good luck. I remember my undergrad and how selfish people were. The moto seems to be "everyone for themselves". I don't think its any different at Ross. Remember you are going to be competing with these same people for residency spots lol.

Good luck. I remember my undergrad and how selfish people were. The moto seems to be "everyone for themselves". I don't think its any different at Ross. Remember you are going to be competing with these same people for residency spots lol.

It is not really about selfish. We don't have time to socialized that much when you in medschool especially at Ross. Time is precious. Miniexams, final around the clock, every 3 weeks is one exam and the vast amount of knowlege you have to be able to accomplish and understand is so different than undergrad. I went to University of California undergraduation institute and I thought it was hard until I went to medschool. Nothing compare to medschool.

I agree to all of the problems people are talking about here but I think it is important to have friends in medical school. I am certainly not looking for someone to study with per-se but I would like to have friends around when I am pulling late nights.

only thing i think group studying is good for is motivation later at night, if a bunch of your friends are sitting there studying next to you, that helps motivate you...also for coming up with practice questions for each a day or two before an exam, so you can see if you have any weak spots...my most efficient studying is on my own

You'll find out real quick that the people at the top usually study alone unless they are fortunate enough to form a friendship with at most 1 other person who shares their ambition. For the most part though I see that the people who are in groups perform worse than those who are not. Reasons? You take breaks together, you go to the bank together and wait for 5 people to complete a transaction instead of 1, you go to the store together, etc. etc. Then you feel ok about all of it because your group is ok with it too.

Oh, and it is premature to have already decided what you would like to do 5+ years in the future...especially in a specialty like that. Everyone I meet wants to be a plastic surgeon, opthamologist, orthopedic surgeon, etc. Don't be fooled--most of them will not realize those dreams and you should not believe a word of it. Your goals should be realistic and short term along the lines of "I would like 90+ on all my mini1 scores. I would like to have read the book for all my lectures a week in advance. I will hit the ground running and not wait until week2 to start studying."

At least 3 different people in semester 2 or later gave me the advice "don't make friends with first semesters" in my first week here. The reality is many of your classmates will fail and it is too early to tell who will and who won't and you don't want to go down with someone else's sinking ship. Personally, I made friends but didn't try to talk to them outside of bumping in to them on campus or to go out after a mini. I took my first dedicated day off this week.

Just a braindump. Take it for what it is.

Edit: Changed 'to' to 'too'.

Physics Junkie .....that was said perfectly. This is probably the best advice I have heard in a while.

Good luck. I remember my undergrad and how selfish people were. The moto seems to be "everyone for themselves". I don't think its any different at Ross. Remember you are going to be competing with these same people for residency spots lol.

I had a different experience with my friends from Ross. I have found many very good friends at Ross that are very willing to help each other. Instead of competing against my friends for residency spots we instead have helped each other. I was fortunate to land a residency spot with two of my close friends from Ross matching at the same site.